Are You Being Served? Again! (The Complete Series)

This was the follow-up to a great British comedy. The same beloved cast is here, but in a different location. Mr. Humphries, Mrs. Slocum and Captain Peacock are funny wherever they are.

ARE YOU BEING SERVED? AGAIN! (aka GRACE & FAVOUR) follows the adventures of the Grace Bros. Dept. Store staff of ARE YOU BEING SERVED fame. Young Mr. Grace has finally passed on, under some rather remarkable circumstances, and has invested the Grace Bros. pension fund in some unconventional ways. The beneficiaries of the scheme are those loyal employees who remained with the store until closing day - Mr. Rumpold, Capt. Peacock, Mrs. Slocombe, Mr. Humphries, Miss Brahms and Mr. Grace's 'nurse du jour' Miss Lovelock. The staff learns that their pensions will keep them just off the dole and that their primary asset is Millstone Manor, a country bed and breakfast held in trust with Mr. Rumpold as manager. When they arrive to inspect the property they find the establishment in a shambles and Miss Lovelock in permanent residence. The group decides to run the manor with the aid of Mr. Moulterd, the home farm manager and his daughter Mavis.As with the original series there are a series of running gags, some carried over from the original series. Mr. Rumpbold is still an incompetent bore, Capt. Peacock a skirt chaser, Mrs. Slocombe still fusses over her pussy, Miss Brahms continues to have things 'get up her nose' and Mr. Humphries' mother continues to supervise him from a distance. While still an ensemble piece the focus is very much on Humphries and his relationship with Mavis Moulterd. While still very much 'neither here nor there' the two share a bed and many clever double entenderes.This series is as hilarious as the original series. We are treated to glimpses into some more of their lives and would probably had gotten more had the series continued. Sadly the series only ran 12 episodes, long before it considered all its possibilities. I would have liked to learn what happened to some of the other Grace Bros. staff, (Mr. Harmon, Mr. Lucas and others) and find out what happened to Peacock and Rumpold's wives. There was still lots to be said about Mr. Humphries and Mavis, Capt. Peacock and Miss Lovelock and Mrs. Slocombe and Mr. Moulterd.I would recommend this to fans of the original series and also to those of TO THE MANOR BORN.

I'm a fan of British comedy, and this, right here, is one of my faves. I especially love the interplay between the late John Inman as the "neither one way nor the other" salesclerk Mr. Humphries, and Fleur Bennett as gorgeous, but abused, farmgirl Mavis Moulterd, who fell in love with him on sight. Sadly, the show only ran for 2 seasons, and reportedly, had it gone to Season 3, Mavis would have ended up marrying Malcolm Heathcliff, the town bully - and a man that Mavis, obviously, didn't even like.Which leads me to the curious case of Mavis's overbearing father Maurice, played by the late Billy Burden.It wasn't out there that much, but starting with "The Cricket Match" it was obvious (to me, anyhoo) that Malcolm was the man old Maurice wanted Mavis to be with. And I should note, during "The Darts Match" Maurice would not defend Mavis when Malcolm started bullying her and shoving her around - it was Mr. Humphries who rose to her defense. And remember, half the time Maurice was threatening to beat Mavis - or as he called it, "giving her the strap." What moron in his right mind would continue to beat his child well into her 20s?Which leads me to my theory about the sheep from "The Darts Match."It wasn't said, but I believe the sheep were a dowry Maurice paid to Malcolm in order to get Mavis married to him. Which wouldn't fly with Mr. Humphries, who had previously been the biggest wuss at Grace Brothers and who, as it turned out, had begun to grow a backbone when he began defending Mavis.I wish the whole thing had been resolved without Mavis having to marry Malcolm. Mr. Humphries was her true love, and Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft should have kept it at that.

Loved it hard to find it

So glad to find the entire series available on DVD.

It was several years after the comedy series "Are You Being Served?" ended with a long and successful run on British TV. Even though our beloved cast of characters has visibly aged, the storyline picks up immediately after the closing of Grace Brothers Department Store. They have come together again to find out how the late Mr. Grace handled their retirement money. Not very well apparently, as the crew inherits a broken down country mansion in place of their much deserved pensions. As Mrs.Slocombe puts it, "We were diddled!"They hit upon the notion of opening the mansion to the general public as a bed and breakfast with the intent of not only "copping the lolly" from their guests, but enjoying free room and board for themselves.The series ran for just a single season. And, while it has more charm then belly laughs, if you watched the entire Are You Being Served? series, your genuine love for its characters and the actors who played them is more than enough to make you want still more episodes of Are You Being Served, Again? It is a wonderful reprise of our beloved cast of characters and perhaps the finest comedians Britain has ever produced. Their timing was always spot on.Considering how long Are You Being Served? ran on PBS TV and the enthusiastic reception always given to John Inman and Mollie Sugden when they appeared live on PBS, it is apparent we yanks came to love the entire cast as much, if not more, then our British cousins.If you already own Are You Being Served? on DVD, please buy the redux series. You will not regret it. Besides, your collection would not be, otherwise, complete!The series was named Grace and Favour in Britain.

Good spin off not nearly as good as the original but still funny.